James' Flat Stanley tours Virginia!

I am James Johnson's Aunt Polly and I live in Charlottesville, VA.  We have had a wonderful visit with Flat Stanley at our house.  Thank you so much for letting him come visit!  During Stanley's visit, we have gone a lot of places and seen a lot of things!!  Did you know that Charlottesville was the home of Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president of the United States who built and lived at Monticello?  Thomas Jefferson is the face that is on the front of the nickel and his home, Monticello, is pictured on the back of a nickel. 

 Monticello is a fun place to visit where you can take a tour through the house and see the actual beds and furniture that Jefferson used!  You can also see some of his inventions like the one pictured above. It is called a "wheel cipher" and was used to carry secret messages back and forth!

 Charlottesville is also the home to the University of Virginia which was founded by Thomas Jefferson.  The building above is called the Rotunda.  It looks a lot like the house at Monticello, doesn't it?

 After we visited Monticello, we went up into the mountains and took a great hike on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Aren't these beautiful sights?

 We drove to our family farm in western Virginia that is near the Blue Ridge Parkway. To get to the farm, you need to walk across a "swinging bridge" that goes over a river:

Flat Stanley did NOT like this bridge so he would not let us take his picture of him walking across it.  It was VERY bouncy!  James is very brave when he is here and walks over it with no problem, but it was too scary for Stanley!

 This morning Flat Stanley woke up with a sore throat!  Poor boy!  Luckily his Uncle Dave is a pediatrician so he went right away to see what was wrong....Uncle Dave listened to his heart with his stethoscope.

 Then he looked in his ears with the otoscope!

 Then he peeked down his throat with the light.

 Luckily, Flat Stanley only had a cold!  So, he stayed in bed all day and felt much better. 

All of James' "Virginia Family" loved having Stanley come to visit and hopes he will come back with James next summer.  Here is a picture of all of his cousins!